2019 Financial ReportCVB Marketing Update

Successes & Next Steps

GARDINER CHAMBER OF GARDINER CHAMBER OF COMMERCE & CVBCOMMERCE & CVBANNUAL REPORTANNUAL REPORT

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GARDINER CHAMBER OF COMMERCE & CVB

TABLE OF CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION

Message from The Executive Director Member Benefits

MEET THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Board of Directors Gardiner Chamber Staff

OVERVIEW

Company Vision & Mission

FINANCIAL REPORT

Year End Snapshot

MARKETING REPORT

CVB Markting OverviewFinancial Report Breakdown

SUCCESS AND NEXT STEPS

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Neala Siegle

MESSAGE FROM THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

Dear Members:

As we dive into a new decade, we’d like to thank you for your continued support and share some highlights from the past year.

We kicked off 2019 by finalizing and printing Gardiner’s first-ever, full-color visitor guide. We’ve worked hard over the last year to place these guides in strategic locations throughout the region, from the Bozeman and Jackson Hole airports to visitor centers across the intermountain west.

Our shoulder season marketing efforts were a primary focus in 2019. Traffic to the official Visit Gardiner website continues to climb each year, with a 59% increase from 2018 for a total of over 114,000 users. We saw significant growth in our social media following, produced a number of print ads in strategic publications, and added several digital marketing campaigns to our mix.

Last April, we received the 2019 Marketing Campaign of the Year Award on behalf of the Gardiner CVB at the 2019 Governor’s Conference on Tourism. Not only was this an honor for our staff and committee volunteers, it gave our community significant exposure in front of hundreds of regional tourism professionals.

In the coming year, we look forward to keeping the momentum going on our shoulder season marketing campaigns, upgrading the corrals at the Gardiner rodeo grounds thanks to funding from the Gardiner Resort Tax and labor donated by the Rodeo Club, and highlighting annual Gardiner events that bring business to our town and make it a special place to call home.

Our staff and volunteers look forward to providing the best value possible for your membership in 2020. Please don't hesitate to stop in, send a message, or give us a call to let us know how we can best serve you.

With gratitude,

Neala SiegleExecutive Director

INTRODUCTION

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MEMBER BENEFITS

Chamber Website Listing Each member receives a complimentary customizable listing on VisitGardinerMT.com, our new consumer facing website, utilizing the Gardiner brand. Google Analytics tracking, SEO, and digital marketing through the CVB pushes the potential visitor to explore VisitGardinerMT.com and see all we have to offer. Thousands of people navigate the Chamber’s website each month in search of relocation, tourism, and community information.

Marketing Opportunities As a Chamber Member you automatically reap the benefits of the Gardiner Convention and Visitors Bureau (CVB). The goal of the CVB is to market Gardiner as a year round destination in itself. By marketing the Gardiner area your business receives collateral publicity as Gardiner continues to gain recognition as a desired travel destination. Members have full access to all marketing materials created with CVB funds-including videos, photos, and web content—and are included in any publications that are funded through the CVB. We have worked hard to expand advertising opportunities this year to include web banner ads, a Gardiner travel guide, a walking map, and as always the community newsletter.

Voting RightsEach Chamber Membership gets one vote in official Gardiner Chamber of Commerce directional membership polls, election of Board of Directors seats, and proposed changes to the Policies and Procedures manual, Articles of Incorporation and Constitution and Bylaws. Polls are sent electronically, but members must be present at meeting to vote.

ReferralsThe Gardiner Visitor Center is open year round, with over 30,000 visitors coming through our doors this past summer alone. In person, on the phone, and via email the Chamber receives thousands of requests for recommendations on goods, services and lodging. As a Chamber Member your business is referred to the visiting public. We provide in depth information on tourism, relocation, and trip planning.

You're InvitedIn 2020 we hope to offer more networking opportunities for members to meet mingle and share best practices as well as continue to build a series of business development workshops. Each January we hold the Annual Meeting of the Members. One of our favorite events of the year, this is your opportunity to participate in the election of new Board members and make your voice heard. We also encourage everyone to attend our monthly board meetings, generally held on the 3rd Thursday of every month, to let us know how we can better serve you.

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HIERARCHY

EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE

BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Jeff feels privileged to call Gardiner, MT his home for the last 20 years where he has enjoyed raising his two sons. In the business sector, he and his wife Katy own Yellowstone Dino Lube & Repair along with being a partner in Yellowstone Park Service Stations. He enjoys actively participating on other numerous committees and enjoying the outdoor recreation in this diverse backyard.

JEFF GUENGERICHPresident

Originally from Mississippi, Trina came to Yellowstone National Park in the summer of 1998 to complete her college internship. From then on she never looked back and feels fortunate to call this special place home. Trina now oversees the guest operations at B Bar Ranch, an organic cattle ranch just north of Gardiner. Trina is passionate about sharing her love of the great outdoors and the abundant wildlife.

TRINA SMITHVice President

Mike Keller is the General Manager for Xanterra Parks and Resorts in Yellowstone National Park, WY. He has lived and worked in Yellowstone for over 30 years, starting as a volunteer at Norris Geyser Basin in the summer of 1984. Mike began his career with the Park concessioner in the winter of 1987-1988 as a room attendant. He currently lives in Mammoth Hot Springs with his wife and two children.

MIKE KELLERTreasurer

Edwin, and his wife Ronalee, have been greeting guests since their 1981 arrival in Yellowstone Country. After years of guid-ing experience, Edwin became a licensed Montana Outfitter in 1985. He is a life member of Safari Club International, Foun-dation for North American Wild Sheep, Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation and the North American Hunting Club.

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BOARD OF DIRECTORSDIRECTORS

HIERARCHY

NELI KARAMFILOVA (OUTGOING)Board MemberBorn and raised in Bulgaria, Neli first ventured to Gardiner in 2006. She's been in Montana ever since, working in the summers and going back to school in the winters. Neli loves everything about living here—the big sky, the wildlife, the kind and caring community, the cowboys and the horses. And, of course, the best beef in the world! She has a passion for Montana-made and Montana-grown products. Neli and Dimitar started running The Corral, a small burger place, in 2015. She enjoys finding local, organic, sustainable products and working with small vendors, ranchers and producers.

MIKE SKELTON

Board Member

Mike and his wife Ann and have been full time Gardiner residents since 2015 after relocating here from the Dallas, TX area. He established Yellowstone Wonders LLC, based here in Gardiner, in 2018 to offer private tours of Yellowstone National Park. Mike was the President and CEO of a privately held corporation involved in the office equipment business in the Dallas area from 1994-2018.

KELLY BURNSBoard MemberKelly Burns is the Recruitment Marketing Specialist for Yellowstone National Park Lodges. She first came to Yellowstone in 2009 as a tourist. Nine years later, she has returned as a full-time employee residing in Mammoth Hot Springs.. Her favorite thing to do on the weekends is getting out and exploring. She is passionate about the National Parks and has a goal to visit all 400+ units managed by the National Park Service. Currently, she is two-thirds of the way there.

ANNA HOLLOWAY (OUTGOING)Board MemberAnna is the owner and operator of the Tumbleweed Bookstore and Cafe. Nestled in the heart of Gardiner, MT this little shop provides a little bit of everything. Stop in for a book, a fresh cup of coffee and fill your belly with homemade baked goods, soups, sandwiches and more.

EDWIN JOHNSON

Board Member

CHAMBER STAFF

Neala Siegle, Executive Director Terese Petcoff, Office ManagerZondra Skertich, Newsletter Coordinator

LESLIE EVERETTBoard MemberLeslie joined Yellowstone Forever after a 21 year career at Bank of America as an Administrative Support Associate/Marketing Officer supporting executive level leadership in the Global Wealth and Investment Management Division. She fell in love with Yellowstone during her first visit in the winter of 2012. Leslie was inspired by Yellowstone’s iconic landscape and delicate ecosystem and decided that she wanted to move west and develop a new career helping to preserve and protect Yellowstone National Park for future generations.

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Gardiner Chamber of Commerce

COMPANY VISION & MISSION

VISION

Gardiner, Montana is a year-round gateway community.

DEVELOPEMENT

The Gardiner Chamber of Commerce serves our community through developing local tourism while

endorsing the stewardship of the Yellowstone Ecosystem.

MISSION

STRATEGIC PLAN 2018-2023

Strategy 1: Expand board recruitment and develop an organizational succession plan. * Set expectation of all board members to attend all meetings.

* Develop a Gardiner School Student Board Representative to encourage youth involvement and further engage the community

Strategy 2: Establish Gardiner as a year-round destination through innovative marketing campaigns to grow a more sustainable economy. *Increase visitation 10% in the shoulder and winter seasons (October-April), using 2018 as a baseline year for visitation

*Collaborate with CVB to create annual Marketing Plan

Strategy 3: Exercise stewardship of Gardiner/Chamber properties for community benefit. *Establish a utilization plan for the Rodeo Grounds facility.

Strategy 4: Enhance our value to chamber members. * Develop website to integrate billing and account services for members * Encourage membership engagement through the development of awards programs, business development workshops, and increased emphasis on facetofaceinteractionswithstaff. * Maintain current membership with an annual retention rate of 90%

Strategy 5: Leverage local events to promote year-round visitation to Gardiner. *Focusefforttoprepareforandcapitalizeonthe2022YellowstoneNational Park Sesquicentennial

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THE FASTEST GROWING COMPANY

FY19 Income Breakdown

YEAR END FINANCIAL SNAPSHOT

FY9 Income and Expense Breakdown

FY19 Expense Trend

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Chart of AccountsCapital Grant........................................$153,329.49 Main Checking.....................................$100,351.42 CVB.......................................................... $26,635.76Savings......................................................$5,039.96 Gardiner Gateway....................................$2,232.65

Notes: CVB funding is mandated by state lodging tax and runs on different fiscal year than the Chamber. Financial snapshot shows funding as of December 31,2019 on the fiscal year Jan-Dec.

Total Revenue 2019: $76,807.77

Previous Year Income Comparison

Previous Year Expense Comparison

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The small hamlet of Gardiner is located in southwest Montana at the North Entrance to Yellowstone National Park. Nestled between the Absaroka-Beartooth and the Gallatin Mountain Ranges, Gardiner lays claim to approximately 10 million acres of public lands. The community also enjoys Montana's Yellowstone River—the longest free flowing river in the lower 48 states. In the early 1880's, Gardiner's northern boundary was Yellowstone concessionaire James McCartney. Since then, Gardiner has served as the original entrance to Yellowstone and is graced by the historic Roosevelt Arch, dedicated by President Theodore Roosevelt in 1903.

Our community's small-town Montana charm, natural splendor, and abundant wildlife truly make it a unique "home on the range" for our nearly 900 residents. Year-round access to Yellowstone’s Northern Range, known as the Serengeti of North America,

truly differentiates Gardiner from other Yellowstone gateway communities. The community also enjoys a rich history as the original entrance to Yellowstone National Park, which has left a flavor of Old West heritage evidenced by historic buildings and the Roosevelt Arch.

Strengths: Our charming small town offers relaxing hospitality while providing full service amenities. Many Gardiner restaurants offer local and sustainability grown produce and Montana raised beef. A diverse selection of accommodations including modern hotels and inns, rustic cabins, quaint cottages, relaxing B&B's, and vacation rentals. Our all-inclusive guest ranches give the visitors horseback riding and fishing by day, cowboy cookouts and campfires by night.

Year-round access to Yellowstone National Park and easy access to Forest Service and BLM lands provide visitors with an array of recreation opportunities. These include whitewater rafting, ziplining, cross-country skiing and snowshoeing, photography, wildlife watching, hiking, fishing, and soaking in hot springs.

Gardiner is currently enjoying the successful completion of Phase I of a $24-million-dollar infrastructure improvement as part of the nationally recognized Gardiner Gateway Project (www.gardinergatewayproject.org). The project's completion now provides visitors with vital amenities such as walkways, safer traffic routes, a Gardiner Welcome Center and 24-hour public restrooms, and the Roosevelt Stage in Arch Park.

Challenges: Challenges include residential housing shortages, public/private wildlife controversy, and lack of year-round staffing. In the winter and shoulder seasons a much lower visitation rate make it difficult for businesses to remain open—resulting in a lack of accessible visitor amenities. Gardiner’s remote location also presents issues for visitor access and awareness. In addition, some visitors may choose to bypass Gardiner on their way to Yellowstone National Park.

Opportunities: The largest opportunity for tourism growth in Gardiner is in the winter and shoulder seasons. According to National Park Service gate counts, October through May only contribute to approximately 30% of total North Entrance visitation. The primary goal of our long-term marketing efforts continues to be focused on attracting more visitors during that time through a comprehensive marketing plan.

Brand Pillars: Gardiner aligns perfectly with the state’s brand pillars. Located at the heart of the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem, Gardiner is surrounded by unspoiled nature

with beautiful vistas and landscapes home to some of the most abundant and diverse wildlife in Montana. Gardiner prides itself as the historic gateway to Montana’s natural wonders. Our messaging focuses on the area’s abundant wildlife, authentic and local hospitality, and year-round recreational activities as the only year-round entrance to Yellowstone National Park.

Our five overall goals are: Increase bed tax collections (October-May); Increase time spent in Gardiner (June-Sept); Increase resort tax collections (June-Sept); Increase return visitation to the State particularly during the shoulder and winter seasons; Increase our digital presence including social media reach/engagement and website traffic

OVERVIEW

CVB MARKETING AT A GLANCE

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CVB MARKETING SEGMENTS

Photo & Video Library: With the continued development of our website and increased activity on our social media platforms, the time came to purchase a small collection of photographs for our marketing toolbox. By the end of FY19 we successfully purchased over 100 high resolution images of Gardiner in all 4 seasons utilizing the talents of local photographers.

Joint Ventures: In collaboration with the Cooke City Chamber, Livingston CVB, and Yellowstone Country Tourism, we participated in several joint ventures including the maintenance of our TripAdvisor page, a summer press trip, and several print and digital advertisements.

Gardiner Visitor Guide: We planned, wrote, and designed a 40-page full color magazine-style visitor guide in-house. We printed 30,000 copies and distributed them to Gardiner businesses as well as regional Visitor Centers and airports. An electronic version is also available for download on our website at VisitGardinerMT.com.

Website Support: Using our media agency TDG, we completed a comprehensive winter website in the fall of 2018 (www.visitgardinermt.com/winter-in-wonderland) as well as responded to routine maintenance needs and updated some stylistic features throughout the website.

Radio Advertising: We took out a radio ad in Q4 of FY19 that ran for one week on Yellowstone Public Radio. The ad was written to promote Gardiner as a late spring/early summer destination with a variety of music and cultural events such as the Gardiner Rodeo and Gardiner Brewfest. It reached an estimated 40,000 - 50,000 listeners.

Social Media: As part of our goal to increase Visit Gardiner's online presence and therefore expand our audience, funds were set aside for Facebook ads, boosted posts, and paid “likes" campaigns. Our Facebook following increased by 30% to reach a total following of 33,394 followers and a 100% increase in Instagram followers for a total following of 3,287.

Gardiner Rack Cards, Post Cards & Stickers: To help promote brand and destination awareness, funds were allocated to print Gardiner rack cards, post cards, and stickers, which were distributed for free of charge to visitors in the Gardiner Welcome Center.

Print Advertising: A limited amount of funding was allocated to participate in regional print advertising opportunities including the West Yellowstone Visitor Guide, the Livingston Enterprise, and Outside Bozeman.

Administration: This included salary for staff who worked on CVB projects as well as postage to send Gardiner travel packs.

Opportunity Marketing: Funds were reserved for opportunities that rose unexpectedly throughout the year such as print media and online advertising.

Marketing Personnel: Funds were set aside to employ a full-time director of marketing to manage and implement CVB priority projects.

Engage Strategies: The consulting services of Mike Bento and his team at Engage Strategies have been very helpful with respect to establishing our brand strategy. With limited staff and resources we continued to leverage his service to achieve our goals in FY19.

From Year 2019

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OVERVIEW

From Year 2019

CVB MARKETING BUDGET

Website 5%

Social Media10%

Photo/Video Library5%

Joint Ventures14%

Travel Guide9%

Printed Material4%Fulfillment

2%

Radio/Television Advertising,, 1%Print Advertising,

1%

Administration 20%

TAC/Govenors Conference3%

Opportunity Marketing 1%

Marketing/Publicity10%

Marketing Plan Development13%

Cooperative Marketing2%

FY19 Budgetary BreakdownWebsite Development

Social Media

Photo/Video Library

Joint Ventures

Travel Guide

Printed Material

Fullfillment/Telemarketing

Radio/Television Advertising

Print Advertising

Administration

TAC/Govenors Conference

Opportunity Marketing

Marketing/Publicity

Marketing Plan Development

Cooperative Marketing

Project 2018 Bed Tax Funded Budget

2019 Bed Tax Funded Budget

2019 Non Bed Tax Funded budget

Website Development $4,500.00 $8,119.36Social Media $4,500.00 $4,500.00Photo/Video Library - $3,880.64Joint Ventures $8,500.00 $9,050.00Travel Guide - $4,000.00 $13,000.00Brochure Stocking $500.00 $3,000.00Radio Advertising - $500.00Administration $11,196.40 $9,031.00Conferences $1,500.00 $1,500.00Opportunity Marketing $6,500.00 $600.00Marketing Personnel $4,400.00 $4,515.00 $26,000.00Engage Strategies Consulting $6,000.00 $6,000.00Cooperative Marketing - $750.00Printed Materials $3,000.00 $2,000.00Trademark $500.00 -Promotional Videos $17,903.60 -

$67,000.00 $68,161.00 $39,000.00

Allocation of Funding

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2019 SUCCESSES

To meet our strategic priority of providing opportunities for business networking, we hosted two open houses at the start and end of our peak summer season. The open houses offered an opportunity for members to network with one another and gave us a chance to connect with our members and share updates on marketing efforts and other Chamber priorities.

Open HousesWith the departure of former Executive Director Loren Barrett in March 2019, we took the opportunity to restructure Chamber staffing. Our staff now consists of a full-time executive director, a full-time office manager, and a part-time newsletter coordinator. We welcomed Office Manager Terese Petcoff to the team in May 2019.

ORGANIZATIONALTeam of Experts

To keep our visitor center functional and welcoming, we completed repairs to our interior track lights, outdoor flagpoles, and the siding on the front of our building. We installed two door counters to ensure accurate visitation tracking 24 hours day, 7 days a week. In collaboration with the Rodeo Club, we also secured Gardiner Resort Tax funding to complete safety upgrades to the Gardiner Rodeo Grounds in 2020.

Since the adoption the Gardiner CVB in 2016, we’ve made significant strides to increase destination awareness and shoulder season visitation. In 2019, we saw an increase in digital traffic and were honored with a statewide marketing award. Members can highlight their business in any one of our marketing pieces: the Gardiner visitor guide, walking map, website, and the Gardiner community newsletter.

YEAR ROUND DESTINATIONVisitor Center UpgradesSustaining the Future

ENHANCE VALUE

INFRASTRUCTURE

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Looking Forward

2020STRATEGY

In 2020 we will continue to utilize the marketing tools we completed in the last three years to further establish Gardiner as a year-round tourist destination and elevate destination awareness. In addition to the infrastructure upgrades that will begin in the spring, we hope to continue to develop a long-term vision for the Gardiner Rodeo Grounds. We also look forward to elevating our local events—including the annual Horse Drive, Gardiner Rodeo, Brewfest, and Christmas Stroll—to promote year-round visitation to Gardiner and provide additional business opportunities for our members.

STRATEGY

216 Park Street PO Box 81 Gardiner, MT 59030

Phone406.848.7971www.VisitGardinerMT.com

GARDINER CHAMBER OF COMMERCE19